Back to school!

   Can you believe it is August in just a week? I feel like my summer has just flown by! We've had so much fun and now it's winding down. I do love back to school time. I am not sure if it's just nostalgia or if I just like buying school supplies. I think it's both!
    I've checked out Walmart & Targets school supply thus far. I will say Walmart is by far a lot cheaper, but who can resist Target? Since I homeschool my back to school shopping list is probably slightly different.

My list looks like this:
-Composition books (my left handed child prefers them)
-Spiral notebooks
-Markers
-Lined 3 hole paper
-Erasable pens
-Pencils ( mechanical & normal dixon ones)
-Dry erase markers
-Pencil box
-Glue
-Crayons
-Construction paper
-Erasers
Things I need for schooling:
-Stapler & staples
-Hole puncher
-White board
-Tape
-Containers for organizing
-Manila folders
-Stickers ( ones that say Good job, Great....)

    I use this time of year to stock up on school supplies since they're so cheap. I actually have stuff left from last year. I love the feeling of a new fresh start to the school year. I am looking forward to teaching and learning new things with my children. 
Where do you find the best back to school deals? Leave it in the comments below.
                                       Happy back to school shopping!

Choose happiness

     Today it is rainy & cloudy. I got my kids dressed and ready for the day. I was going to take them to story time at the library. We headed out the door and got buckled. I went to start the car…. And nothing! My car battery was dead. My kids were upset, but nothing like a little movie, Madly Madagascar, to brighten their spirits. It got me thinking about how I brighten my spirits when I am disappointed. One way I recalled is Journaling!

        I’ve been looking on Pinterest for different journaling ideas. I’ve seen a lot about bullet journaling, I’ve never heard of it before. Another very popular trend was a gratitude journal. I’ve tried to be better at writing daily things I am grateful for. Today I am starting the 30 day gratitude challenge. I’ve seen a lot out there in the way of lists of questions about books, sounds, food, and more, that you are grateful for. I am going to keep it simple and just pick one thing I am grateful for that day. I feel like sometimes I try to do some elaborate thing and it gets to be overwhelming so then I just give up. I want to be realistic, so one thing I am grateful for each day for 30 days. It won’t take more than a minute.

      I find that when I focus on what I am grateful for I am more positive. I have less time to focus on the negative. We are in a world full of negativity and I don’t want to add to that. Today I am grateful for music. It is soothing to my soul. It can calm me down when I’m upset, it excites me, brings back good memories, teaches me, it does so many things.

       Every day I listen to music. Ask my kids, they’ll tell you I jam out daily to music while washing dishes. It makes doing something I dislike more pleasant. I have a jam Bluetooth speaker and it was one of the best gifts I’ve ever received. It syncs with my cell phone and I listen to Pandora while cleaning. I listen to anything from country love songs to Ariana Grande. I love all music.

     Sorry I went off on a little tangent.  My main thought for the day is, find something that brings you joy and brightens your day. We can ALWAYS find something going wrong in our life, but we can CHOOSE to focus on the bright side and be positive.

                            What are some ways you find and focus on the positive in your life?

Beginner faux calligraphy

    Well I haven't posted in quite sometime. I've decided to start this blog up again and be better at updating. Lately I've been into faux calligraphy. It has been so fun to do! It is very relaxing as well. 
   First off, I went to hobby lobby and got myself a notebook to practice my doodlings in. It was like $7. It is the XL canson Mix Media notebook. The pages are fairly thick, so it doesn't bleed, unless I use sharpies. I also bought a Faber-Castell PITT artist pen. It is a soft brush pen.
  The brush pen is actually hard to use. I am not used to applying more and less pressure to create a certain look. It will definitely take some practice! As for now, I've been using a thin tip sharpie, crayola markers, and regular sharpies.
The first 3 pictures are me practicing with the soft brush pen.

Remember, I'm just a beginner!!

The next few were done with a thin tip sharpie and markers.

I totally wrote the wrong date for my anniversary! #marriagefail

I turned my lettering into a digital copy that I can print out! Thanks to the Adobe Capture app 

the sharpies bleed a little bit, so in the background you can see it bleeding through

  So as you can see I am by no means a professional. I have really enjoyed trying out new techniques. I do need to give credit to my friend oak.lettering.co (on Instagram) for letting me copy a lot of the stuff she has posted on Instagram! She also suggested I buy the Tombow Fudenosuke Brush Pens. I am going to be purchasing them this week. I will also be sure to take pictures in bettering lighting next time. 

   The really great thing about practicing has been finding such positive and uplifting messages people have used to write in calligraphy. On that note "Let your light shine" and have a great day!